‘On Being Annoyed’

Wikipedia currently lists [as at July 2015] something in excess of 60 emotions. And ‘Annoyance’ is one of them. If you have ever been annoyed, and/or enjoy exploring annoyance(s), can we recommend a new paper in Ratio (an international journal of analytic philosophy), Volume 27, Issue 2, pp. 190–204, June 2014, ‘On Being Annoyed’.

Author, Dr. Tom Roberts of the Department of Sociology, Philosophy, and Anthropology, University of Exeter, UK, not only provides examples of possible annoyances –

“The bombination of a wasp may be annoying to one who is reading a novel intently, or following a recipe, or practising the piano. Being unable to find one’s shoes is annoying when one is in a hurry to get to the shops. A stuck zip or an out of reach jar on a high shelf are annoying because they confound one’s physical endeavours.”

But also asks –

“What would it take for the world to be free of annoyances?”

And provides answers –

“Three simple answers appeal to its being free from obstacles to human endeavour: persons’ pursuit of enjoyment; their exercise of bodily or mental agency; or their receipt of something to which they are entitled.”

[Many thanks to Dr. Roberts for his assistance]

Have you, dear reader, experienced annoyance? If so, in what way? Are we annoying you right now? Let us (and others) know by commenting below.

Also see:

The work of Professor Trinkaus of the Zicklin School of Business, New York City, who was awarded the 2003 Ig Nobel Prize in literature for meticulously collecting data and publishing more than 80 detailed academic reports about things that annoyed him. (such as: What percentage of young people wear baseball caps with the peak facing to the rear rather than to the front; What percentage of pedestrians wear sport shoes that are white rather than some other color; What percentage of swimmers swim laps in the shallow end of a pool rather than the deep end; What percentage of automobile drivers almost, but not completely, come to a stop at one particular stop-sign; What percentage of commuters carry attaché cases; What percentage of shoppers exceed the number of items permitted in a supermarket’s express checkout lane; and What percentage of students dislike the taste of Brussels sprouts.)

Posted by Martin Gardiner onWednesday, August 12th, 2015 at 10:30 am
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